Rowan has a hot temper. With a name like Rowan Scarlet (Rowan means "little red one") I guess she was bound to be fiery. But this is a classic case of be careful what you wish for. This was because I asked if she was ready to get out of the bath.

Here's the before picture, earlier in the day. I don't know what the caption of this pic should be, but I love it. They look all cool to me, hanging out downtown.Here is Saoirse during her haircut, looking decidedly less cool and chill. I was amazed that she didn't fight or try to get out. She just wailed. Luckily, since she doesn't have much hair, it was over pretty quickly.Rowan, on the other hand, took to it like a pro. And once Saoirse was the one watching, she loved it too. Here they are getting their "prize" for being good girls while they were in the chair:And here's one the next day, you can see Rowan's little bob.

A couple mornings ago, Saoirse was waking up in her slow, groggy way. Before she opened her eyes, she said in this little, dreamy voice, "Coopoo..." So either she was dreaming about Cooper, or asking for him as she woke up. Either way, very sweet.

Before Chris and I had kids, we used to visit our friends Rita and Noah and get a glimpse of what being parents was like. Milin is 2 years older than Saoirse and Rowan. One of the parts of their routine that we got to share a few times, and seemed like a ton of fun, was bathtime. Playing, splashing, lots of giggling, and then a sweet, clean-smelling, happy baby to cuddle when it's done.

When the girls were babies, I struggled with the clash between what I thought having kids would be like and the reality pretty often. Bathtime was one of those times. For months, both girls cried like crazy in the water. Drying them off was like torturing them. By the time the routine was over, I was sweaty and tired, felt like I had run 3 miles, and was just dying for them to go to sleep. Part of it was a twin thing. Two wet, tired babies is a bit more complicated than one. Part of it was just the illusion that is always there when you see parenting from the outside.

But in the last six months or so, I think we've finally gotten it down. Bathtime is a whole-family routine, and one of our favorite times of the day. Who wouldn't love this?

Mexico was awesome. Chris and I just kept saying to each other..."Why haven't we done this before?" We rented a villa on the Caribbean with our great friends Kate and John (from NYC) and their son Cooper. Cooper's the same age as the girls, and blonde. They looked like triplets. Ever since we left, the girls have been asking for "Coo-poo" (Saoirse) and "Coop" (Rowan). They sing, "Coopoo bye-bye" in the backseat when we drive.Rowan and Saoirse were not so sure about the sand when we first arrived, they didn't like it sticking on them. They got over it fast, and spent the rest of the week begging and clamoring to go outside. Mostly we left just screen doors closed, which the kids could open, and let them run around freely. Whichever adult was around watched them. "Uncle John's fun time" was pretty popular. Thank the lord that the daddies have so much energy. We had dinner at some fun restaurants on the beach, so the kids could run around to their heart's content while we ate. We had "ice cream time," which was 11:00 AM when the ice cream shop in town opened. We had tons of fresh fruit from the farm market in town. Kate and I had a Super-Scrabble battle after the kids went to bed. I went to yoga with Kate. If there were such a thing as kicking ass in yoga, she kicked my ass, and she's 7 months pregnant. And I got a very relaxing massage from a guy wearing a sweatband.The flight home was...well, the less said the better. But the trip was worth it. Seeing the girls run around naked in the sunshine (with lots of sunscreen on) with their little blond heads all curly from the saltwater was so awesome. Oh, and Chris went snorkeling and saw a huge sea turtle, they live in the water where we were staying. Very cool.

Enjoy the million photos :)

This was our villa, taken from the shore out front:

This was a little French girl Saoirse made friends with. Since they mostly babble, the language barrier didn't really cause a problem. :)